MEASURING HEALTHCARE DIGITALISATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: TRENDS AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

E-health represents an important tool for improving quality and accessibility of healthcare for citizens. The EU4Health is the core health policy for 2021-2027 in European Union and one key dimension in the implementation of this program is digitalisation. The purpose of our study is to show the differences and progress among the EU member states in e-health adoption and healthcare digitalisation. The premise of the research is that the indicators used in most available studies are relevant for the first stage of the e-health adoption, and there are many focused on specific areas or age groups. In this context, we aim to provide a deeper and broader image on e-health adoption and healthcare digitalisation in EU countries, by analysing 4 indicators for the period 2016-2022: seeking online information about health, making an appointment with a practitioner via a website, accessing personal health records online, using internet for other health services via a website or app instead of having to go to the hospital or visit a doctor. These were selected considering the literature and data availability. The conclusion is that internet use for health-related purposes lags the use for other personal services. Also, the internet use is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for accessing healthcare services online. Although the trends are similar, there are still significant differences among EU countries related to the e-health adoption, and catch-up national policies could be the answer to the main challenge - avoiding the digital divide in health services.